Bigger Tire Sizes On Stock Wheels

**Alwyn the Wolf** · 03-02-2015, 05:11 AM

I've been searching thru different threads for a little while now and I haven't found a good thread on tire sizes.
Basically I'm looking to buy new tires. I want to have wider ones in the back for a staggered look, but I want to keep my stock 17in WS6 wheels. (not many T/A's have them around my town, so I like to keep them)

Anyways, I have 275/40/17 now. I believe that's the stock size. I would like to keep that in the front and maybe something wider in the rear. How wide could I go with the WS6 17in wheels?

**theorangeguy** · 03-02-2015, 05:20 AM

If you are running stock 9 inch wheels I would recommend running a 275 because honestly that's what fits it best and will perform the best...you could go up to a 285 with probably no issues and maybe a 295 if you wanted to push it but dont go over that no matter what anybody says. "well I'm running a 315 on a stock wheel" comes up a lot but a tire that is designed for a 10.5+ inch wheel shouldn't be on a 9 inch wheel. It will cup the tire in the middle and give you a nice amount of side wall bulge that will make cornering pretty sketchy and you could even blow a tire off the rim because of the fitment.

If you are looking for something over a 285 in the rear I would look into widening your wheels or getting a new set. Just being honest.

**Alwyn the Wolf** · 03-02-2015, 05:37 AM

Thanks for the advice. I was expecting to hear something along the lines of what you said, I know 315 on a stock wheel is kind of ridiculous lol. 295 would be ideal to what I have imagined, but if you say it may be pushing it I'll probably go with 285. I just enjoy the all original look I have going on, so I don't want a crazy wide look, just a little.

**Firebirdjones** · 03-02-2015, 06:44 AM

I've run the 285's on stock wheels before and loved it. I'm of the thought process of liking extra sidewall cusion to protect the wheel more than anything, especially since the wheels are so close to the ground (ie: curbs reach them with these short sidewalls), and I just like the look. Growing up with 60's muscle cars and still enjoying them so never really adjusted to the rubber band tire thing on these new cars. For me more buldging sidewall makes it livable... appearance wise. Can't stand to see wheels with tires that are parallel to the rim.

**Nutball** · 03-02-2015, 08:17 AM

One thing to remember is.....the wider you go......the shorter (height) the tire will be.
A 315 will be wider then a 275 but it won't be as tall....you will see more of a gap between car and tire.

**Alwyn the Wolf** · 03-02-2015, 10:49 AM

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

I've run the 285's on stock wheels before and loved it. I'm of the thought process of liking extra sidewall cusion to protect the wheel more than anything, especially since the wheels are so close to the ground (ie: curbs reach them with these short sidewalls), and I just like the look. Growing up with 60's muscle cars and still enjoying them so never really adjusted to the rubber band tire thing on these new cars. For me more buldging sidewall makes it livable... appearance wise. Can't stand to see wheels with tires that are parallel to the rim.

Haha those "rubber band" tires are horrible. Thanks for your input.

**Alwyn the Wolf** · 03-02-2015, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by Nutball

One thing to remember is.....the wider you go......the shorter (height) the tire will be.
A 315 will be wider then a 275 but it won't be as tall....you will see more of a gap between car and tire.

I wont goes as wide as 315
I'm thinking 295... shouldn't be too much of difference... right?

**Firebirdjones** · 03-02-2015, 11:10 AM

With all other things being equal, meaning section height and wheel diameter, the overall tire diameter does increase slightly when just increasing the section width.

275/40-17 is 25.6" overall diameter

Simply jumping to a 285 and keeping everyting else the same the overall diameter still increases to 25.9"

If you jump to a 295 your diameter goes to 26.2 inches.

Not big differences but noticable, and they will fill the wheel well a bit more. This could throw off the ABS and/or traction control if the size difference is too drastic.

For these reason I stuck with the 285's and did that size on all four corners. That got me right at a 26" overall tire height that did noticably fill the wheel well a bit more, and the section width also helped to fill out the wheel wells and provide some rim protection at the same time. It's a subtle change, but noticable to someone that looks at 4th gens all the time.

**Firebirdjones** · 03-02-2015, 11:29 AM

Here's something to consider with what I posted above.

Leaving 275's on the front and going with 295's on the rear changes the tire height .6" front to rear. That makes the front wheels speed sensors spin roughly just a little over 2% faster than the rear.

I don't know what the thresh hold is on the computer to set off the ABS but that might be something to look into before plunking down $1,000 on tires. Maybe find someone that has run this stagger before and see if their were issues.

Personally, I wouldn't be afraid to try staggering with 275's in the front and 285's in the rear because that's only a difference of .3" in height, if that's what you really want. I don't think I'd be willing to spend the coin staggering tires with 295's though and find out I just plunked down $1,000 on tires that set off the ABS.

In these situations it would be better to drop the aspect ratio down from a 40 to a 35 to shorten those rear tires up enough to match the front a tad closer.

**Alwyn the Wolf** · 03-02-2015, 11:36 AM

Originally Posted by Firebirdjones

Here's something to consider with what I posted above.

Leaving 275's on the front and going with 295's on the rear changes the tire height .6" front to rear. That makes the front wheels speed sensors spin roughly just a little over 2% faster than the rear.

I don't know what the thresh hold is on the computer to set off the ABS but that might be something to look into before plunking down $1,000 on tires. Maybe find someone that has run this stagger before and see if their were issues.

Personally, I wouldn't be afraid to try staggering with 275's in the front and 285's in the rear because that's only a difference of .3" in height, if that's what you really want. I don't think I'd be willing to spend the coin staggering tires with 295's though and find out I just plunked down $1,000 on tires that set off the ABS.

In these situations it would be better to drop the aspect ratio down from a 40 to a 35 to shorten those rear tires up enough to match the front a tad closer.

That's great advice. Hah dropping 1k just to tip off the ABS would suck. Ill definitely take your word into thought and go from there.

**Whamhammer** · 04-07-2015, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by Alwyn the Wolf

That's great advice. Hah dropping 1k just to tip off the ABS would suck. Ill definitely take your word into thought and go from there.

I don't know if you bought the tires yet, but I just put a set of 285/40/17's on a set of factory C5 Z06 17x9.5" wheels and the tires stick out a little beyond the wheel. I am not sure how well they will mount to a 9" wheel (this size is factory measured on a 10" wide wheel and recommended for a min of 9.5")